Cross River Governor Ben Ayade has said that the Bakassi Agro Deep Seaport would help Nigeria’s quest to diversify the economy.
Ayade, according to a statement by Mr Eric Ojiekwe, Head, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Transportation, also lauded the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for its “aggressive support for the non-oil sectors of the economy”.
The statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that Ayade spoke in Abuja when he visited the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi.
According to him, Cross River State has entered into a partnership with investors willing and ready to make the project possible and easy within two to three years.
The governor commended Buhari and the transportation ministry for their foresight, and particularly for recognising that the project was beyond politics.
He thanked the President for approving the project in spite of the fact that Cross River was a PDP state.
Responding, Amaechi pledged government’s readiness to provide the needed support to the state, noting that the project would create jobs and other multiplier benefits.
The Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr Chidi Izuwah, in a remark, said that the project was the first of its kind in Africa.
“ICRC has reviewed the outline and we are of the opinion that private sector investors can invest in the project and recover their money,” he said. Nigeria News
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
